Ashes, Ashes

by M. A. Bronson

The Loving Dead woke me up sometime in the afternoon. My cellphone was going off. I groaned and snuggled closer to Will, who was sleeping like the dead. Funny.

  It seemed the caller wasn't going to hang up anytime soon, I got out of bed. I found my clothes on a chair in the corner. I grabbed my cell out of my jacket pocket.

  “Hello,” I said yawning and sitting back in the chair.

  “Jay?” It was Drew.

  “Hey! Are you alright? Are you sick? You haven't been in school for days.” I was awake instantly, my relief at hearing his voice making me babble.

  “I'm...good. I was sick, but I'm better than ever now.” If I hadn't known him better I would have sworn that he was smirking.

  “Well, that's good to hear. Any particular reason you called at-” I checked Will's alarm clock. “Three in the afternoon?”

  “Don't tell me you were sleeping?” he asked with good humor. I spent so much time with Will, it seemed I was beginning to forget that most people slept at night.

  “Well, you know it's the weekend....” I said, hoping he'd believe the lie.

  “Yeah.” There was a long pause.

  I knew what I needed to say. “Listen Drew, we need to talk about what happened. About Will, among other things.”

  “I know. Come see me so we can talk, please. Brittany won't care.” He clearly didn't know that she was in the hospital. But it still bothered me that he would bring her up. He knew my family issues and knew better then to speak about them. I decided it was best not to tell him I was at Will's. He and Will had seemed pretty volatile the other day.

  “You want me to come see you now?”

  “Of course.”

  “I guess I could try to sneak out.” I said hesitantly.

  “You can do it. Meet me in the park at five.” He sounded excited.

  The line went dead.

  I smiled as I pulled on my skirt and tank from the day before. I had always loved Crosswood Park since I was a child. My sister had taken me there all the time. And it was there that Drew had asked me out a year ago. I snagged a water and a poptart from Will's food cupboard. Score! Then, I sat down in the chair and ate my breakfast. Or was it lunch? I wasn't sure what to call eating at this hour.

  I found my bag and pulled my iPod out, spent awhile rocking to some screamo. At 4:30, I figured it was a good time to head out. It was then that it hit me. I had slept with Will. Twice. In his bed and mine. Starting to sound a little slutty. Slept with in the literal sense of the word, but it was still a big step. Not just friends anymore, are you? My inner voice taunted.

  I grabbed my jacket and looked over at him. He was still sleeping, looking almost angelic. I felt really bad about leaving him but I needed to talk to Drew and figure out how much he knew. I would be back soon. At the last second I kissed Will on the cheek, before I slipped out of the door and made my way down the stairs. The wind whistled through the cracks of the house. I skipped the last two steps and hopped onto the sidewalk. I was thankful in that moment for how close to the center of town Will's 'house' was. The park was right smack in the middle of town so it wasn't far at all. I walked down the sidewalk, the nighttime wind blowing through my light jacket. I stuck my hands in my pockets and put my hood up. There were a few people on the street but not many. The sun was slowly leaving the sky and the barest hint of the moon could be seen.

  The park was small and surrounded by a gray fence, with a few baseball diamonds, a playground and a walking trail beyond. I walked past the first baseball diamond and sat down against a large willow tree. It was extremely foggy and the park seemed empty and abandoned.

  After awhile a figure appeared in the mist.

  “Jay,” he whispered, though in the silent park it sounded like a shout. He walked closer 'til he stood but a few feet in front of me.

  “Drew, you look good-” My words froze in my throat as he stepped into the light. His skin was unnaturally pale and his eyes looked red...he looked like, no, that couldn't be. Could it?

  “Don't go near him, Jay!” My head whipped around to the left. Will stood a few yards away, shrouded in the mist, his face desperate. I wondered how he could have gotten there so soon? He was sleeping when I had left him.

  “What's wrong?”

  I looked back to Drew and his fangs gleamed white. Horror and realization spread through my veins. I started to run to Will but Drew caught me.

  “No, no, no,” he chided like I was a child. He pulled me back against his chest and placed one arm around my waist while the other held my jaw, forcing me to look where he wanted. I struggled and looked to Will for help.

  Drew noticed and roughly yanked my face back to him. “He won't move,” he said, looking at Will. “He knows if we fight again, I won't leave him alive.”

  So it was him. Will had been a bloody mess the other night because of a fight with Drew.

  “Drew, let me go.” I pleaded. “I need to see Brittany.” Even my panicked mind realized that was an odd thing to say.

  “You're lying, she's in the hospital. Where are you staying, Jacinda? Is it with him?” His voice was nearly shouting now. He knew I hated it when anyone used my full name.

  “Yes, Drew, I've been staying with Will.” I don't think I could have said anything worse. His face flamed and his arm tightened around me. In anger he brought his lips crashing down on mine. I struggled again, with no progress. This was not my Drew, this was something else entirely. His tongue invaded my mouth and still Will did nothing. I shrieked as two sharp fangs dug into my lip, drawing a stream of warm, red blood. Drew's eyes turned redder. He drank long gulps of my blood. In my haze I thought I heard Will yell again, but I wasn't sure. After a moment Drew flung me to the ground. I groaned in pain as I landed on the cold, hard dirt. I thought I felt Will pick me up. Then someone was biting my wrist.

  Vaguely, I realized Will had been screaming for me. I felt someone pull away from me and I fell to the ground again, no strength to stop the fall. I barely remember what happened next. Drew and Will were screaming at each other, everything was covered in blood. My body seemed to become a mass of pain, and when darkness crept over my eyes, I did not resist.

  When I awoke, the world smelled like rain and wood and there was pain in my chest. The wind was blowing harder than I'd ever felt and my eyelids were heavy. “Where am I?” I asked. My body shifted and a felt a chest vibrate with speech.

  “We're in Drekenhall. You're hurt, go back to sleep, Jay,” Will said, his voice was nervous in a way I had never heard before.

  “I thought you said I shouldn't go to Drekenhall.” I managed to open my eyes to see Will's face. His crimson eyes stared straight ahead, set in determination. I had the absurd desire to ask if he was going to save me. How odd.

  Chapter 6

  Bring Me To Life